Dr. Larry Schlesinger is president and CEO of Texas Biomedical Research Institute. JOSH HUSKIN

By W. Scott Bailey – Senior Reporter, San Antonio Business Journal

Texas Biomedical Research Institute’s board has approved a 10-year master plan for the West San Antonio campus.

The new strategic plan will include a less-is-more approach with an eye on enabling Texas Biomed to focus more on core competencies. One area that’s been identified as a main target of opportunity is infectious disease. CEO Dr. Larry Schlesinger said the board approved a plan to “create a one-of-a-kind infectious disease research institute unrivaled in its expertise, resources and programming.”

Texas Biomed officials have warned that the institute faces several challenges that threaten its survival, and Schlesinger has called for transformative change to better position the institute for long-term success.

The unanimous vote clears the path for implementing a new game plan for the institute nearly a year in the making.

Stakeholders said the plan will help bring together the best minds and provide the resources needed to advance the study of how people are impacted by infection. The changes are expected to lead to improvement in diagnosing, preventing and curing such diseases.

“The plan is bold but transformational. Life-saving discoveries are only made with the implementation of ambitious ideas, and we are ready to get started,” Schlesinger said.

Schlesinger told me in February, during an exclusive interview, that he had called on outside expertise to help reimagine the West San Antonio campus. That group, Teconomy Partners LLC, a technology-centric economic development consulting company, is based in Ohio, the state he called home before taking the CEO job at Texas Biomed.

“Part of our strategic planning process is to have a north star for the institute to define ourselves — not only internally, but also externally,” he said.

The new strategic plan will help leadership identify and secure the talent and the brick-and-mortar infrastructure needed to better position Texas Biomed — and San Antonio— as a global epicenter for new discovery combating infectious disease.

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